SURE III

Links

Welcome. The three surveys described below - the Preflection, the SURE III, and the Follow Up - are supported by funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Each survey takes about 10-15 minutes. The surveys are being conducted by Professor David Lopatto of Grinnell College, and the surveys are hosted by a commercial site, Vovici. The data are analyzed by Prof. Lopatto and Ms. Leslie Jaworski, Electronic Survey Data Analyst for the project. We report aggregate data for an institution or program to the designated faculty liaison or program director.

Preflection Survey

Students who are asked to complete the SURE survey at the end of their research experience may also be asked to complete the Preflection survey before they begin their experience. We use the awkward term "preflection" to signal to the student that this instrument is used "pre-experience" and that it is an occasion for a personal reflection on one's attitudes. The success of an experience is based on the interaction between the person and the experience, and the Preflection survey helps us understand that interaction.

SURE III Survey

The Survey of Undergraduate Research Experiences (SURE) is a survey for undergraduates who have recently completed a summer undergraduate research experience. The SURE-III Survey intends to collect quantitative data on the benefits of undergraduate research by duplicating and extending the first SURE (Lopatto, 2004a, 2004b). In duplicating the bulk of the first SURE, we hope to increase the statistical power of the results by including more institutions and undergraduate researchers beyond the original 66 schools and 2021 students. Replication will also allow for an analysis of undergraduate research experiences across a larger time-frame. The survey will be extended to collect data on academic-year research, peer/mentor roles of undergraduate researchers, and non-HHMI-funded undergraduate research programs. The SURE-III has been approved by the Grinnell College Institutional Review Board (IRB).

Typically, a faculty liaison or program director contacts Prof. Lopatto to plan the period of data collection and designate who should receive the report. The liaison will also be directed to a partner form so that we may save contact information.

The liaison is responsible for informing the students of the survey, sharing the link to the survey, and making certain that any local human subjects or institutional review board issues are resolved. The SURE project has been approved by the Grinnell College Institutional Review Board. Prof. Lopatto and Ms. Jaworski have completed online certification for work with human subjects. SURE III replaces the older SURE II and SURE II-AY surveys. It combines the features of the two surveys and so simplifies the use of the survey. Publication of the results of the SURE survey project include:

Follow-Up Survey

When the SURE (Summer Undergraduate Research Experiences) survey was created in 2003, we offered the opportunity for students to revisit the questions on the survey after a period of 6 to 9 months to capture any changes in their attitudes toward their experience. Data were collected on this "follow-up" survey for two years, and the findings were published as part of a book chapter:

In brief, the results showed that student opinions about their summer research experience sharpened with time, that students participated in a variety of dissemination activities, and that their behavior changed in the direction of greater independence and motivation.

It has been modified so that the student completing the survey need not have taken the SURE survey earlier. The follow-up need not be 6 to 9 months; the survey items can reasonably be evaluated after longer time periods. The survey procedure follows the same guidelines as the SURE and CURE surveys. Students arrange to complete the survey either anonymously or not, depending on their arrangement with you and your institutional review board. We at Grinnell compile the results and send you a report.

In accordance with the US Department of Health & Human Services and the Grinnell Institutional Review Board, permission is required by parents or guardians and assent by participants under the age of 18 years. It is the responsibility of the institution providing the research experience or the institution requesting participation in these assessment tools to follow the requirements established by the US Department of Health & Human Services.